.jeri.

Just a couple of weeks ago at our office birthday lunch, we were talking about earthquakes and how we haven't had one in a while. There are several people in our office who have never experienced one. Well now they know what it's like!

I guess I'm probably representative of native Californians. My first earthquake was the Whittier quake in 1986. I was so well trained for it because of school drills that I wasn't afraid, even at age seven. I don't remember anything about the Northridge quake. I do remember that one time, I was asleep and woke up because my bed was shaking a bit, and I thought, "Hmm, this one's not all that bad," and went back to sleep.

My office is on the middle floor of the administrative building, and I'm not near any walls or columns, so my floor shakes frequently. It feels like little earthquakes all the time. But today, the little quakes kept going and increased in strength. My 5-year plaque fell and must have flown a little bit (although I didn't notice), since I found it on the opposite side of my office with several scratch marks on it. My little Luigi fell and lost an arm temporarily. A picture frame fell. I didn't notice any of that. I stood up and thought, "What were we just talking about at the lunch? What did we decide is the best place to be in an earthquake?" Good thing it was a small one, because my brain didn't tell me to find shelter.

My co-worker and I both came out of the office with that "Hey, that was an earthquake!" look on our faces when it was over. All of us filed out to the lawn outside until security told us we could go back in. I think everyone is okay, but the first-timers were plenty scared. I hope they'll be able to see how it's really not such a big deal as nature's other methods of disaster, the tornado and the hurricane (which are much more frequent and often way more destructive).

Anyway, I hope everyone else is okay. We're thankfully all safe, and so is Ric!